CUROLOGY / BRAND IDENTITY
GIVING A TELEDERMATOLOGY STARTUP A FRESH FACE
With a retail launch on the horizon, Curology needed to shift from a functional DTC acne product to a beloved mass skincare brand that could go toe-to-toe with the CPG giants.
After developing a design system alongside Gretel, our internal team of 6 overhauled the brand identity from top to bottom (along with some incredible freelance support), including expanding the strategy, refreshing the art direction, and outlining a tone of voice to be implemented everywhere from social and web to in-store.
Role:
Strategy
Copywriting
Creative Direction
Verbal Design
Visual Identity
While Curology’s primary target is Gen Z, we didn’t want to veer into the trend-driven ‘adorkable’ space or the bland DTC world occupied by competitors going after the same audience.
As a brand founded by a dermatologist and powered by 100+ providers offering individual support to patients, we needed our dermatological DNA and real-human support to come through loud and clear. To balance the cool with the credible.
This ultimately led to our core guiding principle of “Warm Science,” which informs two key design elements: the Signature Squeeze and Precise Modularity. This philosophy creates a direct and energetic visual language that balances the approachable with the scientific in a way that draws people in.
Our Signature Squeeze is the connecting thread throughout our visual system. Inspired by how we interact with our products, the squeeze acts as a primary graphic element to punch up our compositions and as a secondary accent, alongside our custom typeface, Skintype.
Art Direction
Curology wants everyone to feel seen at every stage of their personal skincare journey. Our art direction encourages this ethos by celebrating skin without alteration, honestly documenting the journey, and speaking to all experiences.
We accomplished this through minimal retouching of skin, intentional styling, dynamic posing, and warm lighting—without ever veering into overly contrived, organic, or filtered territory.
Verbal Identity, Product Naming & Packaging
After working with our CMO and marketing stakeholders to establish a persona, the creative director and I constructed Curology’s verbal identity.
Together, we worked with our internal product marketing team to revisit packaging copy, product names, and SOIs to improve consistency and refresh the tone of voice. This also included overhauling the subscription boxes and inserts.
I then led the charge of overhauling every key copy doc in the product portfolio, to ensure distinct positioning, messaging consistency, and tonal accuracy.
Digital & Social
The refresh coincided almost perfectly with the launch of Curology at Target—enabling us to announce one major move for the brand, with an entirely new look.
Team
Agency (partner): Gretel
Type Foundry: Dinamo
Creative Director: Martin Sanchez
Senior Art Director: Nas Chubinsky
Design Directors: Malisa Kuch, Christina Chern
Designers: Donnah Perez, Diana Mora, Christine Shen
Featured Work
Copywriter: Rachel Amoroso
Photographer: Shan Benson
Photo Editor: Jade Meneguel
Editorial Illustrator: Sol Cotti
Icon Illustrator: Jordon Cheung